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4 SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSUE
- zoe4265
- Nov 10
- 4 min read
新西兰中文周快乐
Happy 2025 New Zealand Chinese Language Week!
Wow! It’s just great to see so many of you having such a great time celebrating New Zealand Chinese Language Week.
Keep the social media posts coming, and don’t forget to tag us!
Opening Ceremony
It was an absolute delight to start New Zealand Chinese Language Week 2025 with an Opening Ceremony at Parliament in Wellington that celebrated 22 Chinese Language Superstars, Youth Ambassadors, and honoured Teachers.
The official report from July’s National forum on language learning was launched, and Wētā Workshop’s Sir Richard Taylor unveiled the Traditional Chinese Medicine Cultural Experience centre, an amazing project in China, which was opened last month.
Parliament’s Legislative Chamber was full to overflowing, and participants were inspired by the heartfelt stories about language learning and what it meant to our language superstars, youth ambassadors, and teachers.
Chinese ambassador Dr Wang Xiaolong spoke about the importance of people-to-people links, enhanced by language skills, and MP Nancy Lu brought the evening’s celebrations to a close, thanking everyone for attending and encouraging them to share their language learning journey with others.
Each year, the Opening Ceremony is better and better – guests are already looking forward to next year!
NZCLW opens with a major call for action on language learning
In partnership with the NZ Association of Language Teachers, we have now launched Making Language Learning a Core Requirement in the New Zealand Curriculum, the findings and recommendations from our national forum on language learning in July.
The report highlights New Zealand’s language learning crisis – enrolments are falling, teachers are underutilised, and our future capability is at risk. Its central recommendation is to make second language learning a core requirement in Years 7–10.
With the curriculum review now underway, we have a rare opportunity to get back on track and ensure languages are embedded at the heart of education in Aotearoa.
The report (and the July forum) reflects our role in bringing together the wider community of language learning interests, including Pacific and other languages.
NZALT President Juliet Kennedy delivered a compelling speech to launch the report, “Languages make students smarter – lifting literacy, problem-solving and academic performance across the board”.
It's attracted considerable media attention since going public. Keep an eye out for TVNZ’s segment on the report airing this Saturday evening.
The report (and the July forum) reflects our role in bringing together the wider community of language learning interests, including Pacific and other languages.
Please help us raise awareness by sharing the report across your community, school and workplace. The more people who see this, the stronger the case we can make.
Film Screenings 🎥
Thanks to the help from the Ethnic Communities Development Fund of the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, we have expanded our Chinese language film screenings to Christchurch and Dunedin this Friday and Saturday.
”Her Story” is a strong representation of female voices in Chinese cinema. Rated M, the film is both an emotionally resonant and socially conscious movie directed by acclaimed female filmmaker Shao Yihui.
The screenings are free, but space is limited.
Screening dates and locations 📍
Wellington – Penthouse Cinema [SOLD OUT]
5 September | 5.45pm arrival, 6.00pm film start
Cinema 1
Dunedin – Rialto Cinema
5 September | 7.30pm arrival, 7.45pm film start
Cinema 1
Auckland – HOYTS, Sylvia Park [SOLD OUT]
6 September | 6.00pm arrival, 6.30pm film start
Cinema 5
Christchurch – HOYTS, Northlands [SOLD OUT]
6 September | 6.00pm arrival, 6.30pm film start
Cinema 3
* Keep an eye out on our website for any last-minute returned tickets
Five Days Five Phrases
Enter Our Competitions
We have some great competitions running on social media – and it’s not too late to enter!
First up is our #5Days5Phrases2025 Challenge. Wherever you are in your language journey, we encourage you to give these Mandarin and Cantonese phrases a go. Then take it a step further and share a video of you completing each days’ phrase and go in to win some special prizes (Including Kai Sum Dumplings!)
We have also teamed up with Language Monkey, who create amazing bilingual talking books, to give away some goodies in celebration of NZCLW!
Check out New Zealand Chinese Language Week on Facebook or Instagram for the instructions.
Take part in our Dumpling celebrations!
National Dumpling Day is coming up fast, so put September 26 in your diaries now! There is no better way to celebrate with family and friends than with a meal of delicious dumplings. And because of that, we’re expanding celebrations to cover a whole week – Dumpling Week will run from 19 September to 28 September.
🍽 RestaurantsJoin our Design-A-Dumpling Competition by creating a one-off dumpling special to serve during Dumpling Week. We’ll promote your dish, and diners will vote for their favourites. The winning restaurant receives a monetary prize and national media exposure! Register your restaurant here.
🥢 Food LoversTaste your way around Aotearoa by trying the limited-edition dumplings on offer! Vote for your favourites on our website and go in the draw to win prizes — from the north to the south, there’s a dumpling adventure waiting. You can also nominate your favourite restaurants to take part.
🏠 Families, Schools and WorkplacesCelebrate National Dumpling Day your own way — host a dumpling tasting, run a dumpling-making session, decorate your classroom or office, the options are endless. We’d love to see how you get involved!
Don’t forget to share your celebration by tagging #DumplingDay2025, and keep an eye on our website to see participating restaurants and related events near you.
School Book Readings of Birdsong
This week we had Tawa Intermediate, Johnsonville, Ngaio, Maidstone, Karori Normal, St Brigid’s, Seatoun, Waterloo, and Cannon’s Creek School all host book readings of Birdsong.
These vibrant and engaging sessions were read in Chinese, Te Reo Māori, and English, giving tamariki a fun way to learn how to count to ten while celebrating New Zealand Chinese Language Week.
Xiè Xiè to everyone who has hosted a community event, a book reading, sent in a video of support, and learnt a new Chinese phrase in celebration and support of NZCLW 2025.
Please keep tagging us in your social media posts, and sending in images of how you’re embracing NZCLW!
Check out all our socials below, and don’t forget to tag #NZCLW2025 #NZchineselanguageweek
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